No shockeroo: Competing against Game 5 of the NBA finals plus the U.S. Golf Open didn't hurt the Tony Awards' Nielsen ratings. (When was the last time you heard an ardent Lakers fan gush, "Oh, don't you think Patti LuPone is the ultimate Mama Rose?")

But what was a nice surprise was to see overall TV viewership increase after reaching its lowest level ever last year (5.7 million). Prelim overnight stats show the CBS kudocast attracted 6.2 million viewers on Sunday night. Two things helped: having Whoopi Goldberg preside over an ace show plus not having to compete, like last year, against the final episode of "The Sopranos." READ MORE.